The Conte di Cavour and Andrea Doria classes supplied experience and credible combat power while signaling that Italy belonged in the same naval category as France. France might have pressed for a higher ratio had it built and organized a substantially larger fleet before the Washington conference. Instead, the visible scale and quality of the Italian capital-ship force made a claim of French superiority difficult to sustain. The treaty result reflected diplomatic ambition and the ships each country could point to when bargaining over recognized status.
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The Conte di Cavours and Italian treaty equality with France
Italy's modern dreadnought force made its claim to battleship parity with France difficult to dismiss during the Washington treaty settlement.